Honesty
by GhostofYaoiPast
Summary: KibaShino. Rated M for Mature and Megatron. Team 8 goes on a mission and Shino comes very close to death. Kiba is shocked and has feelings. Shino notices and has feelings. They're both idiots. See inside for details.


**Title: Honesty**

**Pairing(s): Shino/Kiba, Kurenai/Asuma**

**Summary: It's terrifying how close some people come to death. And then you realize how much they actually mean to you. Funny thing is, though, you're supposed to be straight and in love with Hinata. Right, Kiba?**

**Warnings: Death, blood, sex between people who may very well be the same gender, gratuitous use of the word "Fuck" and over 9000 words.**

**Notes: I really have no idea how to keep Kurenai in character. I don't. I keep getting the distinct impression she's like a protector to Hinata but I have no idea what her interaction with Kiba and Shino is like if she interacts with them at all because I'm so behind it's ridiculous. Whatever. Kurenai is probably OOC and Kiba's kind of not as reactionary as I want but whatever. Also, pretty much everyone knows Shadow Replication because I dunno. I figure if Kurenai can do it and Naruto can do it and it's on the basic exams and Kakashi can do it, why not.**

**Rated: M for Megatron**

**Chapter 1: Surei and Surai**

* * *

It only took Shino a split second to realize the glint in the woods was a kunai.

The Aburame would've scowled, contemplated doing so. His team had been walking through these woods for almost two weeks now, bordering somewhere between stealthy and evasive, dodging the trackers almost fluidly. The mission itself was fairly bland in its simplicity. All they had to do was find a hostage – the son of a wealthy clan from a different country – and return to Konoha with him.

This was made complicated, however, by the fact that the son was eight years old, small, fragile, weak and lacked any semblance of control with regards to his chakra. Altogether this was a fairly textbook mission, but not necessarily an easy one. In hindsight, it had been a miracle that the four of them had managed to sneak into the kidnappers' campsite without detection, had managed to keep a kikaichu scout within their ranks and managed to make it halfway back to Konoha without being found, but for the simple realization that they hadn't been completely stealthy was a mild blow to Shino's resolve.

Just once, he'd have liked to go a mission where something wasn't ruined by a small child broadcasting their chakra signature or some other event that was completely beyond his control.

In any event, Shino threw his arm out, unleashing a hoard of kikaichu. The bugs wrapped around the four of them, whirling around like a murky, buzzing goop. As the buzzing subsided and the kunai fell to the ground harmlessly, Shino turned to Hinata and Kiba.

Hinata wasted no time and made a few quick hand motions before whispering, "Byakugan!" And in that instant, the forest lit up around her.

"They're in the trees," she whispered, retrieving a kunai from her side. She was shaking slightly, but she wasn't stuttering, which was fairly good, Shino noted. She was holding her confidence decently right now, which was a good thing. The last thing anyone needed was for Hinata to blank out and freeze up.

_Actually_, Shino thought, _if they're tracking his chakra signature..._

Shino banished the idea. Hinata wasn't controlled enough to risk damaging their mark for stealth.

Besides which, if Hinata was up to fighting, a win would only do her confidence good things.

Kiba was setting down their mark. Small infants didn't travel well by night and it had taken some self control on his part to not simply run out and attempt to kill their trackers at the campsite. That wasn't, after all, part of the objectives and if it wasn't demanded by a mission, usually that meant it wasn't immediately important or desired altogether.

But right now...

Oh how he wished he had just killed them the old fashioned way at the campsite... with bugs crawling out of their eye sockets.

Hinata gasped and pointed shakily with her free hand. "Th-they're coming!" she whispered desperately, as shadows descended from the trees.

Shino had seconds to react. He moved to the side calmly as a kunai missed his foot barely, and a second later, Hinata leapt in front of him and knocked the other weapon down with her own.

The shadows, now on the ground, stared at the three.

"Three genin." The voice almost seemed surprised. "So Konoha and the great illusionist send – rather than a few chunins – some novices." The voice was clipped, controlled and light. For all its casualness, the person was keeping a much taught stance. Clearly, there was a reward in store if they did their mission correctly.

The other shadow scowled. "Do not underestimate them. They may be genins, but there is an Aburame and a Hyuga," he snapped sternly. "Their bloodline traits are not to be taken lightly. Unless the prospect of insects crawling through your corpse, devouring your intestines and eating through your eyes makes your skin shudder with anticipation, I would advise you to make this clean and quick. Leave the Hyuga to me."

"Yes, sensei." A silvery tongue licked faintly visible lips.

Kiba was growling low in his throat. Shino sighed and held out a hand, urging him to calm. Kiba's eyes were much better in the lowlight than his and his smell was probably picking up whatever he could about them, but Kiba's job was to guard Lenin right now. The Aburame scanned the surroundings. Kurenai was supposed to be around right now, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Perhaps she was using her illusions...

"L-look out!"

The first shadow leapt forwards, kunai in hand. Shino braced himself into a defensive stance, contemplating creating a bug clone, but that seemed unnecessary right now. A bug clone would be draining on chakra, not to mention silly if this hunter could detect the change in chakra to sense out the real him. One of them had to be tracking the child and they needed to know which one. And there was still every possibility that it was the older one.

Shino ducked the slash and slid backwards, nearly tripping over wires in the process. _Wires?_ He glanced at the forest floor as he stabilized himself with his bugs. _Ah. So that's what the earlier kunai was for._ The set of kunai thrown earlier had setup wires along this section of the bottom of the forest to impede movements. And – clearly – the masked ninja in front of him slashing away with a pair of kunai had practiced fighting under these conditions enough to be unimpeded by them.

It was a new trick. Rather ingenious, really. In a forest where mobility was of paramount importance, limiting the movement of your foe was pivotal for all intents. Using wires to do so was interesting.

This intelligence bothered him.

Hinata was struggling. The mobility loss was making her Gentle Fist awkward and sloppy. The fact that the man fighting seemed to read her better than vice versa didn't help. As she thrust her arm forwards, he'd step to the side, just missing touching the suspended wires. Then he'd strike back and Hinata would barely evade. Neither had exchanged blows, but it was clear to see what was happening. Hinata was trying more than he was and he was still winning.

It took Shino a complete second to realize he'd been hit when his coat was pierced. Glancing upwards, the realization of what had occurred dawned on him. This silver, robed hunter was an illusion specialist, someone who – like their sensei – was an artist in genjutsu. The hunter had apparently leapt into the air with some sort of illusion decoy and flung a few shuriken. One of said shurikens had punched through his coat, stinging sharply, which also conveniently explained the blood running down his arm in thin, wet ringlets.

It took Shino another second to realize how badly they actually were losing and signaled Kiba. However, the assassin caught the glance and hurled several kunai, forming a wire net of sorts around the duo. Kiba howled in frustration and drew a kunai of his own, cutting his way through the wires agonizingly slowly.

Meanwhile, the eight year old cried. And thin blue lines pulsed through his fingertips as he screamed for his daddy.

Shino narrowed his eyes and sent out a swarm of bugs at the black-robed ninja. He seemed to be taken off guard by this and as they clumped onto him, he fell to the ground, shaking and screaming for the bugs to get off him.

Then he vanished in a puff of smoke and sulfur.

Shino's eyes widened with realization.

It was a shadow replication.

Instantly, Shino whirled towards Hinata and sent a wave of bugs at the taller man. Momentarily distracted, Hinata took the opportunity to jab him in the chest, causing him to choke as the chakra sealed his points. A second jab, this time to the arm, made him cough blood. The third jab, to the leg, made him nearly collapse. He blinked, as if blinded and Hinata backed away cautiously, deactivating her byakugan.

From the tree, Kiba finished slicing through the wires.

"Shino!?" he called angrily, holding the unconscious kid slung over his shoulders. "What the hell are you doing!? And where's the silver guy?"

Shino didn't even answer, simply continued to stare around as the kikaichu returned to him. _Where was he?_ The bug user narrowed his eyes behind the dark sunglasses. He really didn't know. The silver one made the clone for a reason and now there was a crippled man here, barely managing to stand with absolutely no idea where anything was.

_Well_, Shino noted, _at least we know which one has been tracking us... unless, of course, they both see things through chakra_.

"Duck you idiot!"

Shino barely had time to obey as the kunai imbedded itself in his back. The Aburame stumbled slightly and then almost fell forwards as blood seeped down his back. It had hurt. Whirling around to face the attacker, Shino pulled the weapon out of his back as the kikaichu swarmed to the wound. Blood dripped down the blade tip and the genin adjusted his glasses.

The silver, masked boy simply snorted.

"Stupid genins. _That_ idiot might have made the mistake of playing with the little girl but I have no intention of doing so."

And with that, he leapt across the trees, slid down the bark in the same time it takes to pant and grabbed Kiba. "Fucking dogs," he snarled, and then threw him against another tree. Then he turned to Hinata with a glare. Fortunately, Hinata had the sense to reactivate her Byakugan. Unfortunately, he simply sneered and threw a volley of kunai at her.

Although Hinata was good about blocking the kunai hurling in her direction, she wasn't expecting him to be approaching with such speed while she blocked. As the kunai fell, he appeared behind her and pressed a blade against her throat-

But before he could do anything, he found himself tackled over by an irate Kiba, barring teeth and pressing sharp, claw-like nails into his skin, drawing blood.

To the credit of the offending ninja, he didn't scream or hiss when the nails and teeth punctured his skin. He glared at Kiba and made a move to shove the attacking genin off of him. Doing so, however, earned him a tearing bite dangerously close to his jugular. The shinobi scowled and made a few quick hand motions, in spite of the damage Kiba was reaping over his body. Skin peeled in long, thin, fleshy strips, highlighted with silvery fabric as the claws ripped at him.

"Secret Jutsu: Illusionist Track."

In roughly the same time it takes to blink, the shinobi had dissolved into a stream of light, falling to the ground and vanishing into the shadows. Then, from the darkness, the same voice hissed, "Shadow Replication."

Shino snapped his head towards the clone approaching the unconscious former hostage. A wave of bugs followed by a kunai to its head effectively caused it to poof out of existence. However, that didn't stop Kiba from being kicked into a tree with a howl by a very real shinobi. Akamaru growled angrily and leapt atop his partner. "Beast Human Clone!" Kiba snarled, rising to his feet, as Akamaru replaced himself with a copy of his master.

"That won't work," the ninja sneered, gliding backwards, sliding along the wires. "Your mobility is constricted," he snapped. "I've covered this section in wires." He brandished the kunai and slid three more out of his pouch, this time with explosive tags attached. "Turn him over and fail the mission."

Kiba growled low in his throat. "Fuck you," the genin snarled, barring razor teeth in a threatening manner.

The shinobi was more or less unfazed by the threat, however, and simply smirked. "Stupid dog," he spat. "You're not threatening anyone." He turned to Shino. "Turn Lunin over. Or I'll kill the dog." To his credit, Shino was startled but didn't show his surprise. However, it didn't seem to matter to the assassin, who made a hand motion and snapped a kunai onto a long thin wire that comprised a section of the makeshift spider web. With a glare, he hurled the kunai along the wire, sending it along at an obscene pace. Shino's eyes widened with realization of what was happening and tossed a kunai to tear the tag –

But before the kunai hit its mark, another kunai knocked his over, courtesy of the silvery shinobi.

"No," he snapped. And then the bomb exploded, dangerously close to Kiba. Close enough to damage, at any rate. Not nearly enough to kill, but the genin still flew into a tree, bloodied and burned. Hinata gasped, the kid woke up and screamed and Akamaru whimpered, licking his owner's wounds, no longer a clone.

"I'm glad to see you've realized I'm serious."

"Don't you dare threaten my pupils," a frozen voice said calmly.

The shinobi whirled around.

Standing him down was a very irate Kurenai, glaring daggers into the smaller ninja. She gave him no words. It was startling to see their warm sensei so incredibly cold. Normally Kurenai approached with a professional, calm demeanor with just enough of a hint of warmth to keep the center cozy. But this icy expression was almost... alien. Regardless, the blade slid across the ninja's neck, spilling blood across the thin wires.

The shinobi slumped to the ground, staining the forest floor red.

Kurenai turned to her weakened team and sighed. _They should have been able to take this pair_. As Hinata stumbled to avoid the wiring, Shino approached the mark and hefted him into his arms. Normally such an act would be considered affectionate or loving, but this was anything but. It was a practicality. The field was strewn with chords. And while they weren't thin enough to slice through people, they were certainly enough to trip and cut badly upon if one wasn't careful. And small eight year olds did not possess a reputation for being particularly careful, even aristocratic ones that were born into political circles.

The jonin studied Kiba, eventually deciding it best to simply have him awoken. "Up," she ordered, much to the dismay of the hurt genin. "We have six miles of forest left and there are still two looking for you."

From the ground, the older shinobi blinked, trying to regain sight. He seemed to have had some blurry focus, as he reached for Hinata, but then was jabbed by the girl's index and pointer finger in the juncture between shoulder and neck. The hand retracted and he blinked blind eyes.

Kurenai approached him and hefted him up with ease, pushing him against a tree. "Where are the other two?" she asked calmly.

The man made a gurgling noise.

It was then that Kurenai realized what he had done as the blood ran down his mouth and he turned a sickening purple. He had bit off his tongue and swallowed it to choke himself. He was as good as dead. Even if she shoved her hand down his throat and yanked his tongue out, he wouldn't be able to talk anyways.

The Jonin narrowed her eyes and grit her teeth, dropping the body to the forest floor, showing absolutely no interest when his corpse was diced over the wires. _Fuck._ Ruby eyes flicked around the dark woods. _They could be anywhere. I was too slow. Fuck._

She glanced towards Shino first, then Kiba, then Hinata. The Hyuga was still in fighting condition, as was Aburame. Kiba needed time, though. The explosion and repeated concussions had taken more of a toll of him than he would admit. And the boy was still a liability.

Bandaged hands ran through smoky, dark hair and an otherwise beautiful face turned into a scowl. _What to do. What to do._ She glanced back up at Shino. Shino was the strongest of the three, followed by Kiba, then Hinata, although right now Kiba was in no condition to do anything but roll over and collapse. That left Shino, Hinata and herself as manageable fighters plus one invalid and a wounded.

As she mentally went over the attack patterns she had seen the two shinobi use, she licked her lips. Okay. Asking for Shino and Hinata to hold and beat two trained hunters was much too tall and order. It wouldn't be realistic. Although the two had solid synergy and knew the others' attack patterns well enough to form a reasonable team combination, Hinata needed someone who could protect her long enough for her to make use of her disabling abilities and Shino was not adept enough to do that yet.

On the other hand, someone had to take the subject back to Konoha. Could one person feasibly do that?

Then again, the alternative left them spread far too thin. Either way there was a risk... aside from the alternative, which was to simply travel as five, but that was far too easily ambushed. Not to mention two of the five couldn't fight. Traveling as a complete group wasn't realistic. If all your chocolates are in one bag, it only takes one good thief to swipe them all. And then you have no chocolate.

"Hinata," Kurenai whispered, catching the attention of the pale girl.

"Yes, sensei?"

"Did you see anyone else in this part of the forest?" she asked softly.

Hinata shook her head. "No..."

_Okay. They are moving, they're fast and they're not afraid to kill. But... they're not close. _"We're going to stride for a mile, then setup camp." She turned to Shino. "I need you to take the mark back to Konoha. Our camp will act as a diversion. Kiba needs time to recover and he won't do that moving. Similarly, I can't trust you and Hinata alone with either him," she glanced at the infant, "or Kiba in his state. Get out of the woods; make sure he's with his parents and then return." She bristled slightly at her own words, but nonetheless leapt up onto one of the overhanging branches.

"Follow me to the camp and stay close."

* * *

Shino strode through trees with as much haste as possible, while retaining enough to fight. Normally he would have gone much quicker, but Lunin was not used to traveling along trees and the weight added a considerable impediment.

The Aburame narrowed his eyes behind thick lenses. He hadn't agreed with the plan entirely. Leaving him alone to fend for their mark was a risky proposition and it made more sense to have Kurenai do that anyways. On the other hand, she had a valid point on how the hunters would expect them to be resting and try to ambush, but even so...

Shino bristled. Any plan just seemed far too flawed to work no matter how they did it. They very well could have failed the mission the second Kiba was incapacitated. Three fighters and two invalids did not make a very sturdy defense against trained hunters who knew how to fight, much less ones who understood the art of manipulation and distraction. Even if they did have a horrible habit of leaving themselves open despite knowing fully well what their opposition was capable of.

* * *

Kurenai heard the hunters before they did and flicked two kunai into her hands. Kiba, patched up sufficiently, followed suit. Kurenai had to admire how easily Hinata healed him. What she lacked in confidence she attempted to make up for in work, which was quite helpful at the moment, given the precariousness of the ordeal. Kiba wouldn't be able to fight well, but there was enough of a recovery for him to use his basics, which was what he was good at anyways.

No point in being flashy right now, the purpose of the camp was to stall.

"Byakugan."

Then the shinobi emerged from the bushes, narrowing his eyes behind a mask. He knew what was going on. Nothing escaped the pale gaze of the byakugan – hiding would be silly at this point.

Like the shinobi duo from before, he also wore silvery robes and a mask. His mask showed eyes, however. As he studied the group, he glanced around the camp. It was a modest setup. A tent of sorts, possibly for shelter, no fire or anything to draw attention and there were two genins with a jonin. Barely anything conspicuous wafted around this encampment; no signs of bombs, hidden traps, genjutsu or barbed wires.

This camp had been setup in haste. Kurenai saw the realization in the skinny shinobi's eyes.

He remained emotionless, but his eyes seemed to smile. "The mark is not here, Surai," he hissed and from the shadows, another shinobi appeared.

"Then where is the mark, Surei." The voice was soft, clipped and very feminine. However, there was definite ice to the tone. Kurenai bristled. This woman was a killer and definitely in charge of the operation. She was the one pulling the others' leashes and making the orders. Long black hair almost dissolved into the trees as she leapt into the trees, drawing a long set of kunai, three in each hand, glinting in the moonlight.

The first shinobi hadn't blinked thus far and simply continued to stare at the camp, despite the tear running out of his eye and down his face. "One of their four is missing. He's taking him back to the village," he deadpanned.

Kurenai knew when she had stalled long enough and spun forwards, deflecting a trio of shuriken as she swung the blades. Surei blocked the kunai blade, but Kurenai was faster and, as fluidly as her illusions, swept underfoot, knocking him over with her heel.

Surei was fast with reflexes and caught himself with his arm, braced the fall and kicked himself off the ground backwards. He flew up into a free, pursued by a vicious Kiba, but then hurled a volley of shuriken.

Kiba was caught off guard by this. Although he had a kunai out to deflect the shots quick enough to avoid further injury, his approach had been ruined. The two shinobi only needed to glance at each other. "Surei," the woman murmured, crossing her arms, "We've wasted enough time on these playthings." Her voice was inhumanly soft. "The mark is escaping with the Aburame. If he returns to his clan they will know of this and protect him."

Kurenai, however, had different plans and leapt upwards, making finger motions as she went.

"Demonic Illusion: Tree Bind Death!"

The robed woman bristled in her kimono. "The demon tree," she murmured, leaping out of the way of the entanglement as Kurenai almost vanished. Surai smiled. "Keep your illusions to yourself, witch." She turned to leave, but paused.

Unusually boldly, Hinata had leapt up in her way to stop her.

"Oh for the love of Shukaku," she snarled. "Get out of my way."

"No."

Surai bristled. "You're not being brave, you're being stupid." She turned to the now-visible Kurenai. "I'm going to kill the Aburame, you realize this, correct?"

Kurenai glared. "He's fast."

Surai snorted derisively. "Look above you, illusion witch." Along the tops of the branches were wires, strewn across like spider webs. "We've wired this entire forest. You don't realize how our wire works, apparently. The wires pick up disturbances in the forest by the vibrations. We hear the vibrations and follow them." From behind the mask, all three of team eight could tell she was smiling. "The fact that we can smell chakra helps a little bit too... to pinpoint exact locations." She shrugged. "And I assure you... that insect is not moving particularly quickly."

"Y-You! G-go away!" Hinata shrieked, charging forwards with her palms ready for striking.

Surai snorted. "Bravery is not a synonym for stupidity. But they go hand in hand oh so often. This will be quick."

And, sadly, she was right. It only took her two shuriken and a sweeping kick to knock Hinata out of the tree. Kiba caught her easily in the fall, but by the time Kiba did so, the two had vanished completely.

Kurenai swore. She actually swore out loud.

"Fuck!"

Hinata stared at her in shock and Kurenai shook her head apologetically. "We have to move. Now!"

Kiba could feel his sensei's tension. It was very rare that Kurenai wasn't quick enough. For a second, Kurenai made a move to leap into the trees, but then paused and narrowed her eyes. _Fuck._ Kurenai mentally swore. "If we take the trees they can throw bombs at us if we pursue," she murmured. "Shadow replication!"

The clones appeared quickly, each brandishing kunai. Then they leapt off.

"We're running this. Now move! Move and catch them or you're doing a thousand laps with Gai sensei blindfolded!" She threatened and sped off.

Kiba felt something in the pit of his stomach curdle and let out a string of profanities, featuring "fuck", "shit" and "damn it". Shino wasn't strong enough to fend off both of them, especially with a principal he had to protect. This was bad. _And..._ Kiba swallowed. _They were going to kill Shino if he resisted. And Shino never backed down. He always had a plan... always stood for the mission._

"Fuck," Kiba growled.

Kurenai only nodded her agreement and Hinata swallowed the lump in her throat.

Fuck indeed.

* * *

Shino sweat a little when he heard what was coming. The two shadows were catching up and quickly. He sped up his pace. There were two of them and they were definitely more equipped than the last two. A kunai whistled by his ear threateningly but he ignored it. There would be no point in panicking at this point. That had been a blind shot to see where he was and since it missed, there would be – undoubtedly – more blind shots to check locations.

When a second kunai whistled by his ear, so close that he had to leap slightly to the left to evade it, he realized that the blind shot theory was not in fact correct and he was under attack.

Jutting his free arm out, he unleashed a quick burst of bugs to swarm. He heard a cry but they continued to follow. They had stopped the kikai somehow. Whatever. There was no point panicking yet. He had strode, what, three miles? From the campsite made a mile ago? Two miles left. He could make it...

"Shadow Replication!"

Shino frowned and dropped from the treetops onto the lower canopy as an assortment of kunai and shuriken sped past his head. Minor complication, he decided, as he hurled a pair of his own kunai backwards, effectively killing two of the silver clones in violent puffs of smoke.

Two down. Good.

Another volley of shuriken was his reward for killing two, but he then leapt down to the forest floor, weaving around the trees. If he timed this right...

As the clones descended, many of them found themselves being eaten by a field bugs. As they faded, Shino recalled his kikai and continued running. He continued to speed along the forest floor, darting around and weaving through the trees with a child slung over his shoulder, keeping his legs moving at a furious pace.

Then the woman stepped in his way and tossed a volley of kunai.

The kunai was avoided, but as he turned and hid behind a tree, he froze. The silver man was in front of him and swinging his fist.

Shino barely avoided it with a duck and then kicked him in the stomach. The shinobi was caught off guard and slid backwards, but recovered hastily.

A brief standoff occurred, with the woman not moving, Shino panting and holding onto the child he was supposed to protect, and the man not bothering to try and use taijutsu. A thin layer of sweat had accumulated on the Aburame, giving him a soft sheen in the moonlight as he forced himself to breathe. He couldn't put the child down; therefore he only had one hand to fight with. And there were two of them. He needed to get the kid out of here and retreat. Fighting would be pointless.

The man had lost patience. He swung his fist, which Shino stepped, but then swept his foot. Forced out of hiding, Shino leapt into the open, barely managing to avoid the shuriken expertly thrown by the woman.

Then man, however, brandished a kunai and stabbed him...

Shino and the child both dissolved into a shifty black mass.

The woman snorted. "A clone. He cloned himself earlier when we had the standoff and used your focus as an escape. He's not gotten far."

Shino sweat a little when he heard them once again in pursuit and continued to stride along the trees. The clone had been a quick diversion and barely worked. The only reason it did work was because the man hadn't been paying too close attention. And his kikai wouldn't return quickly so he needed a new plan.

Then the woman appeared in front of him and punched him in the jaw.

Shino fell out of the tree and landed in a crumpled heap, barely managing to brace the fall for Lunin.

As he rose shakily, he saw Lunin snatched away. Fortunately, he had thought that part out earlier.

Lunin dissolved in the man's hands and covered him in bugs. Shino panted and turned to the woman. But then he felt a boot collide with his ribs, heard a faint cracking noise and flew a good two meters before sliding along the ground, wracked with pain. The bug-infested clone made a "pop" noise of sorts as it died. Then man grinned behind his mask. "We knew the boy was a clone, idiot. We've been tracking you. Not the clone."

Shino rose shakily and made a defensive stance. The woman snorted. "The boy is somewhere in the trees and he could be anywhere now. You've covered him with bugs to keep him unconscious and mask his chakra signature. I'm guessing your friends will be able to find him somehow too. Some signal you've developed, perhaps?"

The bug master swallowed.

The woman plowed on as if he had done nothing. "But it's no matter. We'll torture the answer out of you. You'll tell us and when you do I'll kill you. That's you're motivation. The sooner you tell us, the sooner you die and the sooner this ends."

The kikai was beginning to buzz and holler, but the woman snickered. "Fine. I'll humor you. Surei, check the trees around here. Half a mile radius, scout it. If nothing is found, then we'll torture it out of him. And keep an eye out for his comrades." Surei vanished.

And with that, she leapt forwards. A swarm of kikai formed a wall in front of her approach, but she snorted and hurled a kunai. Shino's eyes widened. He'd seen the tag attached. And then the kikai exploded.

Through the smoke, the silver-robed assassin rushed and slammed her foot into Shino's leg. Shino crumpled and then felt another foot against his broken ribs, knocking him a few feet over. He rolled on the ground and made his way back up, shaking slightly as the kikai attempted to patch him up to the best of their ability, but he was weak. His chakra had been hurt maintaining so many clones and keeping the bugs on the child under control from such a distance was straining him. The bugs wanted to consume. The child had a kekkai genkai and it was delicious chakra. On top of the woman being flat stronger than him, he was exhausted.

Shino made a move to stand but a sweeping kick knocked him onto his hands and knees once again.

Surai stood over him and pressed a foot into his back.

"Where is the child?"

When he didn't reply, she slammed the foot into his back, driving him into the dirt. He had collapsed just in time to avoid losing his spine, but she ground her boot it into the genin painfully.

"I'm not above torturing and mutilating you grotesquely. I make it into an art. Where is the child?"

Shino licked his lips and grabbed her bandage-wrapped leg, forcing kikai onto her leg but she snorted and kicked him away. Shino blinked. The kikai were dying. They crawled up her leg and – he froze as a burning sensation began to spread through his hand. He looked at his palm. Sure enough, there was a soft wetness to his hands, a gentle sheen that wasn't sweat.

"Poison. I'm wrapped in poison."

The Aburame stopped moving as if paralyzed.

"It won't kill you like it kills the bugs," she said bluntly. "It will just burn and seethe and cause unimaginable amounts of pain for you."

"You wrapped yourself in poison?" he gasped. The pain was beginning to spread to his arm.

The woman shrugged. "My entire ensemble is poisoned; it's not just my leggings. Besides which, I'm wearing several layers of gauze. The poison won't reach me. Tell me, genin, does it burn?"

Shino was coughing and twitching. He felt his vision going hazy as tears welled up in his black eyes. His kikai were dying. And his senses were dying with them. He hadn't heard or seen without the aid of his kikai for so long that he was feeling faint. His sight was going straight to hell and his insides felt so... cold. Things were ceasing to move entirely.

The only thing he had to focus on was the scream he heard; a long, horrific scream.

He didn't really know what to concentrate on. He saw a furious shadow emerge from the trees and a pale girl. Hinata? They'd found him? Kurenai was with them. And Kiba?

Kiba was covered in blood. Or at least his fangs, coat and nails were. And Akamaru was growling furiously.

Someone was laughing and then someone was screaming and someone was being torn apart. Shino's vision blacked out. All he could differentiate was sounds at this point. There was Kurenai holding onto a whimpering Hinata and some whirling sound, followed by skin being ripped and a scream.

Then the burning became to much and Shino's body – now devoid of sight and warmth – found the overwhelming amount of pain coursing through his beaten form simply too much. Strong, warm arms picked him up and slung him over his shoulder and then the Aburame blacked out.

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